Planning a summer trip to Maine?

Paddlers' Place
#61

I sure wish CO had acted as cautiously as ME did. :angry::rage::face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

Many counties, including the one I live in, are pushing to open bars and restaurants to inside dining, and it is obvious they want it before Memorial Day.

Oh, joy, here comes the upsurge. Weā€™ve already seen a noticeable increase in out-of-state vehicles, many of them RVs and other recreational devices. The proportion of nonmasked people cruising the supermarkets has gone up during the same period, acting as if there is no pandemic.

Both ME and OR have reputations as less than welcoming to tourists, at least the rude and/or thoughtless ones. Here, the only county that has shown a backbone against idiots has been San Juan County (no, not the one in NM or the one in UT). They got a lot of flack for it. Good for them, holding to what they consider vital!

#62

To various above -

The only statement that Maine has released that makes sense is the one above from Gov Mills, where it says that incoming folks drive to their location and do not visit business establishments or go where there are a lot of people for 14 days. The official statement continues to suggest that someone cross into Maine, then quarantine somewhere in Maine prior to going to the intended rental, house etc. Which makes no sense.

That is why I posted that article.

As far as I know campgrounds are not open yet, rentals as of June 1 seem to be talking about buildings.

Maine is fine with tourists as long as you donā€™t bring bad habits from elsewhere with you. And IMO understand that as you go up and over on the coast away from Portland there will be an increasing proportion of local individuals who are barely putting up with you. So maybe be more cognizant of local habits in Roque Bluffs than in Kennebunkport.

That said I have seen kayakers in particular manage seriously bonehead moves that leave me shaking my head. The obvious one is to misread a channel, especially when the working boats are coming in at the end of the day. Another is to paddle in the way of a lobster boat pulling traps.

Another one IMO is to go to a working dock piled high with traps and ask to launch your kayak. Unless you know one of the people working fishermen who uses that dock and has issued some kind of invite, I would never bring one of my kayaks to bother folks who are working to make their mortgage.

In general it is a state with a lot of imports doing wonderful things, and at least until this virus a strong and improving cultural economy. It also has a population under high stress form all those imports, like fishing families that can no longer afford to pay the taxes on their waterfront property because the market value has been driven up so high by non-fishing people with deep pockets moving up from Massachusetts, CT etc.

One guy in a nearby town bought the big house and gave the lobster pen and dock that came with the property to the local coop. In full recognition of the strain placed on the fishing community by these changes. Those of us from other areas may think that this earned him a warm relationship with the lobstermen. Last I was told the relationship had improved to one of toleration by the locals in the coop.

I love the state, and had Jim and I decided to move there we would have parked in Portland due to medical facilities and year round cultural access. We would have been somewhat more among our own kind. But I love the rest of the state too, it just comes with some behavioral awareness.

#63

This article suggests that out of staters are currently getting some harassment. I am crossing my fingers that itā€™ll settle down closer to July 4 when there will be more of us. But for anyone going sooner, probably best to bring a lot of patience with you especially w NY plates.

#64

Interestingly, and unrelated to the pandemic, I read a while back that Maine is unique in that it allows people who live in other states to register cars in Maine, without any need to ever set foot in Maine. The article I read was about drivers in Connecticut registering cars in Maine to avoid paying some car-related taxes or fees in Connecticut.

#65

I was wondering about that, but figured in order to have an easier summer people might have been willing to put up with a year of switching where they are paying higher taxes for a vacation property.

If it is still correct that people can pick up a Maine license plate w/o declaring a primary residence, may not help much. Local offices to handle this are probably going to be overwhelmed just with year rounders when they are able to move with more forces again.

#66

Fortunately there overall is not much transfer of plates overall though it does happen
and it gets a fair bit of publicity
Not that easy to do around here Town Hall not open to drop ins Not till June 1
Campgrounds open now but only to state residents
Lots of out of staters yesterday in Rockland but all seemed to be compliant with distancing and masks View from Beech Hill Rockport. amazing views for little effort
Most kids camps around here closed for season which very selfishly will make paddling a lot easier as they run high powered ski boats. I will miss the kids and the camp dinner bell though image

#67

I havenā€™t seen any news items about misbehaving over the Memorial Day weekend, by tourists or otherwise. Maybe thatā€™s a good sign for Maine.

#68

Well, never mind. Temperatures have been in the 50ā€™s. That will keep the crowds away.

#69

This thread has been quiet, but a couple of us have been keeping track of the rules for visiting Maine. Hereā€™s a super-brief summary if anyone is considering a trip.

  • Mainers and people from Vermont and New Hampshire can visit Maine and stay in lodgings without any special restrictions.

  • Visitors from other states can stay in lodgings in Maine starting June 26, but they must either self-quarantine for 14 days or sign a certificate stating that they had a negative test for Covid-19 no more than 3 days before arriving in Maine. A news report appeared to say that the lodgings are to keep those certificates on file and state officials could spot-check for them, and that visitors could be fined if they falsely claim they meet the negative-test requirement.

There are lots of potential flaws in the plan as well as questions about details. Information keeps changing so I wonā€™t get bogged down in the details.

My summary is extremely brief. Hereā€™s a recent FAQ document from the State of Maine that gives more details:

#70

Thanks for the update.

Looks like I can arrange to get a COVID test just before coming up to summer camp to avoid 14 day self quarantine.

This is possible option since testing has expanded dramatically in MA. For us, access to testing is real, as opposed to the ā€œvapor testingā€ touted by the federal administation for a lot of our country.

sing

#71

Later change - I am in a similar situation as far as availability. I just said hang it and scheduled a second one for Wednesday (already got a negative on a test 12 days ago).

I have no idea if this makes the situation more comfortable for the folks from whom I rent or the nearest local market. It does make it easier should I decide to scoot up to a farmstand on June 26 to refresh the vegies. So worth it.

#72

Well there is no one driving to Maine right now. Zero traffic holdup in Wiscassett. Saw one other NY plate once crossed into Maine.

Hotels have got to be in major pain. A decent portion of food places at l95 rest stops shut down.

Great for a laid back vacation but really really laid back.

#74

Update re Maineā€™s quarantine, Gov Mills just announced that quarantine or test requirement is off for NY, NJ and CT as of Friday July 3. Due to low numbers in those states.

Note re the testing option for others - if you want to use that, get it at home. Maine does not have the capacity or any effective orders for outsiders to get tested once here at this point in time. That may happen later in July but it is not present now.

#75

Not quite understanding why MA is not included in the quarantine exclusion. Supposedly, our gov will be reaching out to Mills to get clarificationā€¦

I was able to immediately booked campsites in western MA state forests for two trips this summer when the state announced the openings. But, I would definitely be willing to forfeit the booking to get the annual 2 weeks at my camp in western Maineā€¦

Fingers crossed.

sing

#77

Ok, Maine is not lifting the quarantine go MA. I can point out that the cases per 100000 or whichever is currently higher than for NY, NJ or CT.

Let the statisticians argue about that. Here is what l am seeing on the ground in midcoast. A couple of establishments in Rockland have signs up saying all out of state visitors should quarantine for 2 weeks before entering. No reference to state by state decisions. One of them has potato chips that l dearly love. But l can wait until l go back next week to look for early Christmas presents to hit their take out buffet.

Some restaurants remain on take out only. Ones that allow inside seating probably need a long lead time for rezervations. And have pretty specific rules posted about how to behave once inside.

Mask compliance in Rockland on the streets could be improved. But the sidewalks are not busy enuff for it to be alarming as long as l had mine on.

Saw more out of state plates yesterday at motels on rt 1 that are clearly hurting. Major hotel in town barely occupied. Lot of empty moorings in Rockland Harbor compared to usual this time of year. Some downtown businesses gone, not tons but enough to notice.

Fireworks going very well. Been exploding all over the place.

And FRBO rentals fairly available still.

#78

Hereā€™s another midcoast update. Note that midcoast is the somewhat quieter region north of Portland, so perhaps not indicative of the more touristy areas south of Portland.

A guide from Maine Kayak in New Harbor told me that their rental and tour business is reasonably good. Not like a normal summer, but not a disaster.

Last Thursday, about half of the cars at Pemaquid Beach were from out of state, with New York and Mass probably the most common. But I expect those are mostly summer residents, not tourists. The number of people on the beach was pretty moderate, similar to a weekday during a normal summer.

Yesterday, July 4, the gate to Birch Point Beach State Park was closed in the morning with no indication that it was going to be opened. I and and a couple friends had planned to launch kayaks there. The Maine state parks website said all state parks were to be open on July 4, but some would have parking restrictions. Speculation is that the state was allowing people to park outside the gate and walk the 1/2 mile to the beach, but that the long walk would discourage most visitors and thereby keep the crowds down. My friends and I drove to an alternate launch site and had a nice paddle. The fog lifted for an hour or so just as we were out among the Muscle Ridge Islands. Otherwise, it was compass navigation all the way.

#79

@Wolf
Darn, sorry if I mislead about availability of Birch Point.
It never occurred to me that the state would have restaurants allowed to open for partial inside dining but state parks still blocked. I wonder if it was just that someone failed to get to that gate.

Glad that you had a nice paddle. It is a more-than-one crossing as far as I am concerned so not in my likely radar this year. Have only seen a couple of sea kayaks so far but saw more come into the area on the tops of cars yesterday.

#80

I heard on the the news last night that there was a 20-mile back up on I-95 coming down to the NH border - must have been a lot of people up for the weekend.

Did they all get their cover tests?

#81

If they were from nearby states other than MA or RI, they wouldnā€™t have needed covid tests. Traffic leaving Maine on Sunday can be heavy with toll booths slowing things down. Add in an accident or two and it gets worse. The backup sounds like an indication that the number weekend visitors to southern Maine must have been fairly strong.

#82

NY plates are up, and last l saw that is well over 50% of the Maine tourists. CT also not minor. So one accident could have backed everything up.

Though Wiscasset was apparently not bad on Saturday afternoon.

I am encountering lots of resistance to people getting tests, even in areas of NY where anyone can get it. l doubt that the tests are where Mills would like. As of this morning hotel owners are still arguing it is hitting their bottom line.